Eccentricities Of Collecting 78's

[Edisonfan]

http://78rpm.gramophile.com/2009/11/06/ ... cting-78s/


A friend of mine on the 78 RPM Community, sent me this article, and I thought I would share it with everyone on here.


BTW: http://www.78rpmcommuinty.com Stop by and check it out!


Paul

[Kirkwood]

Interesting article, once I got past that visual image of his impromptu attire. One interesting quote: "Rumor has it that a collector in New York state has a collection nearing 80,000." Seems like I've heard about this guy before......

[Sidewinder]

http://78rpm.gramophile.com/2009/11/06/ ... cting-78s/




BTW: http://www.78rpmcommuinty.com Stop by and check it out!


Paul

this one works better

http://www.78rpmcommunity.com/

[Edisonfan]

Sorry, did not realize I had typed the link wrong.

Paul

[OrthoSean]

Interesting article, once I got past that visual image of his impromptu attire. One interesting quote: "Rumor has it that a collector in New York state has a collection nearing 80,000." Seems like I've heard about this guy before......

There are a few collectors in NY that I can think of with close to that number of 78s, myself included . I wonder who he was referring to. Anyone here remember Jim Hatfield? His collection had to have been way up there, I'd guess in the hundreds of thousands. That was one FULL barn he had!

Sean

[1926CredenzaOwner]

!

[FellowCollector]

There are a few collectors in NY that I can think of with close to that number of 78s, myself included . I wonder who he was referring to. Anyone here remember Jim Hatfield? His collection had to have been way up there, I'd guess in the hundreds of thousands. That was one FULL barn he had!

Sean

Yup - me too, Sean. Way more than I'll ever play. Although I've changed gears a bit over the past several years to disc music boxes I still get calls from people with 78's to sell and I still can't resist the urge to go look at them if they're early enough. Ahhhh...Jim Hadfield, what a great guy. I remember him well. Twenty years ago I met him at Doug Anderson's first phono collector bash in Herkimer. Jim was there as well and brought a few early 7 inch Victors from his collection that I ended up buying. He's been gone quite a while now and I've wondered what his family ever did with his enormous collection of records. I remember asking him one time if he had some Eldridge Johnson Monarchs he would sell me. "I sure do, Doug. Lots of them. But I can't get at them 'cause I have many huge stacks of records in the way. If I can get those moved we'll be able to get at 'em....". Sadly, not long after that Jim passed. And I never followed up with the family. Jim's passion for old records was incredible and his knowledge of them immense. Not many like him around anymore.

[OrthoSean]

Jim was one of a kind! He was the guy who unearthed all the Western Electric test recordings from 1921-2, some of which wound up for sale by one particular mail auction dealer. I had heard that Jim's son had taken over the "barn" and was doing some selling, but I haven't heard anything recently as such, nor have I made much of an effort to get in touch with him.

I've got my hands full with two large collections of 78s that came my way. The most recent being about 10,000 mostly acoustics, all stored in nice albums and extremely well cared for. Everything from pre-dog Monarchs to DeLuxe black and red seals, most of it in super clean condition. The family was going to throw it all away! Can you imagine? I was happy to get the call about them and rescue them. Unfortunately, I'm out of space and sorting through it all has been a little difficult, but well worth my effort and time as I've found some amazing things I'd have to pay through my teeth for if I were to get them from a dealer. Lots of more common stuff here as well that I'll need to get rid of eventually, but not until I've got the time to check things against what I've already got on my shelves already. Fun!

I figured you knew Doug Anderson too! I went to college in 1991-2 in Herkimer, so I knew him very well and bought a couple of machines and lots of records from him over the years. Sadly, last time I saw him (several years ago now), he had started to fade a bit and didn't remember who I was. I believe I heard that he has passed now as well, goodness, he was in his 90s when I last saw him! I wonder what happened to his collection. He had some nice stuff out in that schoolhouse of his!

Sean

[FellowCollector]

Nice finds with those record collections you bought, Sean. The red seal Victor Deluxe's are very hard to find and the pre-dog's are always a treat too. It's amazing to realize that people even today consider tossing records that are very early. But I suppose when the contents of an estate are in the hands of family members who just want it gone - well that's that I guess. For those who did not have the pleasure of knowing him, Doug Anderson was a retired school teacher and long time phono and record collector who passed several years ago at age 89. He was one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. I can recall my first Edison cylinder phonograph was an Edison Home with a pretty whipped banner decal that I overpaid for at Brimfield a long time ago. In my excitement to get one I simply found it, saw it had cylinders and a small horn and paid through the nose for it. When I got it back home I realized that it would crank fine but the crank would not lock into place as the ratchet gear was shot. And the cylinders were completely moldy. I took the whole outfit to Doug Anderson the next day. He looked it all over and, realizing I really got taken on the deal (but he never told me that), he took me out into his parts shop where he had motors and parts hanging from rafters. He grabbed a nearby stick and moved a few motors around and asked me to "get that one down." I reached up (I'm 6'3) and took it down. A tag hanging off it stated "Works. Edison Home A". He said, "Doug, take this home and swap it with yours and just bring me back your motor. I'll be able to do something with it someday.". I said, "But, Doug, mine doesn't work.". He said, "I know. But I also know how much you want to get yours working so you can hear your first Edison cylinder phonograph. Here's a couple of cylinders too. Just give me a couple dollars each for them and you should be all set. Just try to be a little more careful what you buy.". I never forgot his incredible gesture of kindness and never will. Sorry for the slight departure from the original thread.

[OrthoSean]

He was a true gentleman! 89, I only hope to live such a long life. I had thought he was older from what somebody else had told me.

He was extremely generous. When I was 14, I got my first DD machine, an A-250 and I only had a few DDs that had come with it. My Dad took me to visit him and I spotted shelves of DDs off to one side and asked him if they were for sale, "sure they are! Pick some out and I'll make you a deal". I picked out about 100 of them and was expecting to pay at least $1 each (back then, that was about the going price for a typical non dance band DD). "Give me $10". I was so happy...instant DD collection! I still have most of them. Guys like that are very few and far between these days. I think of him every time I pull out my nice copy of Fred VanEps "Infanta March" that came from his place. It resides in slot #1 of my C-19 now.

Sean